People involved in reuse and preservation get accused of being romantics or fixated on the past. The concept that old things might have inherent value runs counter to consumerism and is therefore heresy.
The FDNY used to maintain six fireboats because of the danger of fire at a pier. With the decline of freight in New York harbor, and particularly in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I believe we’re now down to one. One of the retired boats, the John J. Harvey, has been restored as a museum exhibit, but its last use showed why it was built in the first place.
The collapse of WTC 1 and 2 on 9-11 badly damaged the water supply in the surrounding area. Basically, columns from the buildings became spears that destroyed everything in their path as they embedded in the street, including water mains. So when the fire department regrouped and set about putting out the fires in neighboring buildings (90 West Street, for example), they had poor pressure and limited water. A fireboat is really a big set of pumps, and the Harvey was tied up off Battery Park City, where it sucked in water from the Hudson and pumped it out to engine trucks on the street.
Apparently, having multiple options is a good thing in emergencies, when ordinary systems might fail. Who could have guessed?
One winter the relatives visited Victoria, where it never snows. Of course a blizzard hit and the city had zero plows. Yes, zero. The relatives quite kindly walked food to the old folk’s home, as the snow was at fence-top level.
Efficiency uber alles.
Great photo & commentary. Thanks .
perhaps it is because I am usually working with adaptive reuse than strict restoration, but I am rarely accused of romanticizing old buildings.
Maybe you don’t hump their legs the way I do.
Got a footing fetish, do ya?